New semester means new schedule. Time is a very precious thing. If review response gets slowed, or even halted completley, please don't take offense.
New fanart is up in my livejournal. See my profile for the link.
"They may offer you fortune and fame…"
"Stop it."
"…Love and money and instant acclaim!"
"Yusuke…"
"But whatever they offer you, don't…"
"My dear, I'm asking nicely!"
"… feed the plants! Look out! Here comes Audrey II! Look out! Here I come for - !"
"Yusuke!"
"You?" Yusuke let his voice trail off, weakened by the fierce green-eyed glare now piercing him through-and-through. He offered his lover a grin. "What's wrong, Kurama? I'm just trying to…serenade you."
"You've been singing that same piece of garbage all day!" the redhead bit out, sounding more like the third member of their triumvirate than his usual, patient self. "Where did you even get that? That wasn't in the movie."
"No," Yusuke replied cheekily. "It was in the stage version though. I looked it up online. You know, in the original, they all died? They had to change the ending when they made the movie because the audience didn't get the angsty goodness."
"Yusuke!"
"You know, Kurama, I think you're on edge. Why don't you relax a little?" Yusuke reached for his lover, and the redhead drew back warily. It wasn't difficult for the cat demon to affect a hurt, innocent expression. "Kurama…"
It worked, because Yusuke had been practicing that Look in the mirror for weeks. Reluctantly Kurama allowed Yusuke to lead him to a chair and sit him down. Stiff backed, he allowed Yusuke's hands to close over his shoulders.
Yusuke began to knead the knotted muscles carefully. Careful, because his physical strength had increased recently and he didn't want to hurt his lover – though the fox may be deserving of a little punishment for the pain he'd been to his lovers over the past few weeks. Yusuke was sure that Kurama had no idea of it, and he didn't dare speak for Hiei, but Kurama's quiet, his insistence on personal perfection, his unreadable eyes, had been driving Yusuke crazy over the last few weeks, and though he had forgiven the fox for the catnip incident, he wasn't quite done punishing him. Showing him that movie and teasing him about it provoked the most reaction he had gotten from Kurama since their return from Makai.
And like a child searching for attention, Yusuke intended to continue to push and push Kurama until he received the reaction he wanted – which was any reaction at all. He understood that Kurama had had a final merging of his forms, that from now on he would be some combination of his past and his future. He even understood that, once Kurama got over the horrible series of events that had led to the merge, he would be happier.
But he wanted something recognizable from the other demon.
So Yusuke kneaded the stiff, tense muscles of Kurama's shoulders and then, as he began to relax, moved to his back. Kurama leaned forward, hair cascading down over his shoulders, relaxing as he hadn't since they'd returned home.
Once he was sure the fox's tension had left him, Yusuke began to hum "Feed me Seymour" under his breath, very quietly.
Kurama stiffened.
"Yusuke?"
"Kurama?"
"You do realize, do you not, my dear, that annoying me has the exact opposite effect annoying Hiei has?"
Yusuke took a moment to consider it, to get what the fox was saying. Picking a fight with Hiei nearly always led to sex. So the opposite of that would be…
Yusuke stopped humming. Instead he moved around, sliding into Kurama's lap and putting his arms around his neck. Kurama's arms encircled him, but there was little warmth to him.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Yusuke asked, wiggling a little – another trick he had learned from his lovers. It had its intended effect, as Kurama's glare lost some of its sharpness. "I'm just flirting with you, man."
"There are other ways to flirt."
"It was just a movie."
"I didn't like it."
"Okay," Yusuke sighed. "Okay."
He fell silent, now feeling quite foolish, sitting as he was atop Kurama. Sometimes he felt…afraid. So much had changed since they had begun their relationship. Yusuke's change in nature had made him louder, more affectionate. The change in Kurama made him less patient, harder to read. Not even Hiei had been left unaffected.
And Yusuke knew that there was so much potential for perfection between the three of them, so much happiness that could be had – and he was terrified that they would lose it because one or all of them would be unable to adjust.
Yusuke was about to get up when Kurama's arms tightened around him and the fox laid a gentle kiss against his cheek.
"What's bothering you, Yusuke?"
"Hm – me? Nothing."
"Talking about it would prove much more useful than simply attempting to irritate me." Kurama pointed out quietly. "So why don't you try to tell me?"
Yusuke was spared trying to answer by Hiei walking in the door, dressed for training. Thankful for the excuse to get away without talking, Yusuke leapt to his feet and hurried to the smaller demon's side.
"You wanna come with us?" he asked Kurama.
Kurama shook his head and rose, a smooth, graceful movement.
"I have things which need attending."
"You're going to be around for after-training-sex though, right?"
A smile.
"Come and find me when you're finished, and we'll see."
For a moment Yusuke considered suggesting that they forego training all together, but then Hiei was already flitting out the door. Yusuke offered Kurama a grin, and prayed that their problems would all go away eventually.
He closed the door after himself as he stepped outside and paused for a moment. He couldn't see Hiei anywhere.
A hand fisted in the back of his shirt, and Yusuke found himself forcefully pulled up onto the roof. He blinked, staring into a pair of angry red eyes.
"Hie - ?"
A hand covering his mouth silenced him. Hiei glared until Yusuke got the message of don't talk. When Hiei at last seemed convinced that Yusuke was going to stay quiet, he dropped his hand.
"What the hell?" Yusuke hissed.
Hiei glared for a moment, but apparently Yusuke's question had been suitably quiet. With a glance over his shoulder, as if expecting someone to be listening in, the smaller demon motioned Yusuke closer.
"You want to fix the fox, kitten?"
Yusuke felt his eyes light up.
"Hell yeah."
Kurama leaned back on his heels, observing his work critically. Sweat beaded and rolled down his back, making his shirt stick to him. His hair was matted to his forehead, but his hands were coated in muddy dirt.
Feeling a quiet, warm satisfaction – a feeling that had become distressfully rare recently – he attempted to shove his wet bangs off his forehead with only the heel of his palm. He was almost certain that the action left a smear of dirt along his nose, but for the moment wasn't concerned.
He was so tired, lately. So much of his energy was going toward trying to be normal for his lovers, trying to remember and behave the way he had before their trip to Makai. Yusuke was frightened of the Youko – he loved only the "Shuichi" aspect of his personality. And though Hiei had loved Kurama's true form, it was very obvious that he had come to love the new form more.
Now Kurama was both and he was terrified. Surely being neither, being stuck in the limbo of the realities of his form, would not be enough for them. Slowly they would tire of him, or, worse, begin to resent him because he was no longer the man they had loved.
Trying to hide the extent of his change from them, to make everything as perfect and as normal as it should be, was wearing him out. The only time he found any peace anymore was in his greenhouse – he couldn't even fully enjoy himself fooling around with his lovers anymore because he was constantly worrying of making some mistake, some misstep, to make them stop loving him.
Kurama looked around the greenhouse a moment, watched the quality of the artificial light his powers maintained. It wouldn't be long before Yusuke and Hiei returned from their sparring session – he would need to put himself back in order by then. His time along with his plants was over.
Leaning forward, Kurama placed his hand against the dark, wet soil and sent out a surge of power. The seeds sprouted open and the delicate vines of the morning glory began to wind their way out and up the small trellis he had erected.
Satisfied, Kurama rose and turned to leave.
He came to an abrupt stop, giving a small jump at the sight of the two standing in the greenhouse doorway. He faltered inelegantly for a moment before his mind could convince his body that he needed to smile at them.
"Why that session ended early!" he exclaimed as cheerfully as possible, trying to discreetly hide the smudge of dirt he knew marred his face.
"We wanted to hurry up and come play." Yusuke answered with a small smirk.
"I'm flattered." Kurama smiled. "Simply allow me to go clean myself up, and I will gladly place myself at your beck and call."
"No." Hiei stated.
Kurama faltered. For a moment, his smile slipped.
"Do I have my calendar wrong? I thought it was my turn to play the submissive today."
His lovers exchanged glances.
"It is," Yusuke drawled, strolling toward him. "And we want you really, really, extra pliant today – got it?"
"If that's the way you want to play it," he nodded. "Just remember that I will be entitled to retribution on either of you if you take things too far."
Hiei's lips twitched.
"That's fine."
Kurama felt a thrill of excitement, accompanied by a rush of not-unpleasant fear.
"Allow me to go and wash up very quickly, and…"
"I don't think so." Yusuke decided.
Abruptly Hiei was standing directly before Kurama, holding both of his wrists tightly.
Kurama fought to catch his breath.
He was becoming obsessed with that smudge on Kurama's nose. The scent of fresh, clean sweat rising from his lovely body. The slightly touseled look to his hair.
Hiei smiled to himself, watching Yusuke urge Kurama onto their beg, ignoring the fox's frequent pleas for them to let him go get cleaned up before anything happened – interspersed between hungry kisses.
Peeling off his shirt, Hiei began to crawl onto the bed. Yusuke stopped kissing Kurama for long enough to glance at him over his shoulder, eyes dark and meaningful.
Hiei's smile became a smirk. He nodded slowly.
Kurama was usually too perceptive to be caught this way, but was too concerned with his appearance at the moment. Only now was he beginning to suspect that his lovers had something unusual planned, but he was so thrown off by his current "imperfections" that he wasn't allowing himself the time to think it all through.
Unsettled Kurama was…fun.
Yusuke turned back to Kurama, catching his lips again before the fox could ask what was going on. His hands came to cup the sides of his face, trapping him below him as Hiei came to join them, stretching out beside them.
Hiei remained still for a moment, watching them kiss, enjoying the sight. Between Kurama's skill and Yusuke's enthusiasm, they always put on a stunningly exciting show.
Without breaking his lips from Kurama's, Yusuke rolled his eyes upwards to Hiei, who nodded again and drew the two small, white boxes out of his pocket, pressing one into Yusuke's hand.
The detective abruptly broke his kiss and rolled to Kurama's opposite side, trapping his right arm. Hiei grabbed hold of his left.
Kurama's lips were bruised from the kisses, his eyes dark with lust. It took him a long moment for that look in his eyes to clear. Even longer for him to catch his breath.
"What are you doing?" he asked, as they raised his hands up above his head.
"Tying you up." Hiei answered honestly.
"With dental floss?"
"It's more a trust thing than anything else." Yusuke said cheerfully, his tail flicking enticingly as he continued his work.
"Trust?"
"If you really love us…"
"You won't break free until we tell you that you can." Hiei finished for him.
Yusuke grinned brazenly as he sat back, his eyes warm as he looked at Kurama.
"I know, I know," the cat said lightly. "You still like to insist that you don't love us. But you won't break free. We're counting on it."
Hiei finished his final knot and sat back as well, watching the look in Kurama's eyes as he tried to sort past his lust to grasp the truth.
"Why is this necessary?" he asked in clear confusion. Nights when Yusuke and Hiei were in charge were generally the least kinky times they shared. And it was clear to all of them that this wasn't about sex anymore.
"We want to talk to you," Yusuke said quietly, sincerely. "And we know that you won't listen to us unless we take drastic measures."
"And you know this because…?"
"Because we know you aren't going to like what we have to say." Hiei answered for him.
"So you're tying me up with dental floss?"
Yusuke's wide grin exposed a fang.
"Yeah. Cute, right?"
"My dears…"
"Stop it Kurama. Just stop."
The redhead blinked.
"Stop…?"
Hiei settled back to let Yusuke take care of it, at least for a little while. The cat had always been better at expressing himself, and had even less shame since his transformation.
Kurama picked up on this, too, and looked to the cat demon.
"Yusuke, my dear, if this is about my little attempt with the aphrodisiac…"
"I already paid you back for that, man, and anyway, I already told you that I wasn't mad about it." Yusuke settled down against Kurama's side and refused to meet his eyes. He slid his hand slowly, comfortingly, along the fox's side.
Despite their plotting and planning, despite the fact that they had already gone over what each would say, he hesitated.
"Kurama…you know…you know that I love you. I trust you, I care about you…you're the first person in my entire fucked up life to ever show that I meant more than a rat's ass to 'em….I mean, other people have cared about me, but no one every tried to help…tried to show me." Yusuke refused to look at Kurama as he spoke, and his voice was unusually quiet, even subdued. "And Hiei…you have to know that you mean the whole world to Hiei. How long has be been with you? You…you're important to us, Kurama. We love you…we're even going through this stupid-ass thing for you…so you've got to believe us."
"I believe," Kurama said slowly, "That you believe you love me."
"Fox!"
"Shit, Kurama!"
He met their eyes fearlessly, challenging them to argue as he spoke.
"You love who I was. You love memories of me…a person I cannot be anymore!"
"People change, Kurama. They grow, they shift, they…hell Kurama! I've changed! Look at how much I've changed! Have any of your feelings for me gone away because of what's happened to me? An' be honest here, cause if they have, I sure as hell want to know."
"No, Yusuke. My feelings have not changed. Though they may, if you and Hiei insist on continuing this nonsense!"
"I'm sick of this perfect shit, Kurama. I'm sick of this game."
"Yusuke…"
"You're trying too hard," Hiei interjected, "And neither of us is quite sure why."
There was silence for several moments.
"What…" Kurama hesitated. "What if neither of you likes the thing I have become?"
"Not possible."
"Kurama…we don't want some mask of what you think we want. We want you. Whatever that means."
Yusuke lifted his head and kissed Kurama before sliding from the bed.
"We're gonna give you some time to think about it," he said as Hiei moved to join him. "So…just stay up here for a while, and think about what we mean to you. We're gonna stay with you…even if you keep trying to hide yourself like this. But we love you, Kurama. Shuichi, Youko, or whatever. We love you."
On impulse, Hiei darted forward and mussed Kurama's hair, then returned to Yusuke's side to observe his handy work.
Tied to the bed, hair a mess, eyes large, and dirt still smudged across his pretty face, Kurama looked delicious.
"We'll come back in an hour." Kurama promised.
"And remember," Hiei added. "If you break out of your restraints, it means you don't love us."
"Be a good boy and you'll get a prize." Yusuke winked.
TBC hopefully sooner than the last one.
Response to Unsigned Reviews:
hanahana - Thanks very much. I'll try my best to oblige.
kit-kit - Grins
GuiltyAmethyst - thankies!
hekela-chan - Any review is a good review - even if it's a first one! Thanks for reading.
Curry - thank you very much.
gfhdfghgfh - The muse comes and goes. There's no way to rush her that I'll accept.
VessaMorana - I'm the world in my mind, using blood for anything is a very big deal. What horrified Kurama was that Seymore fed the plant his blood without second thought - very, very careless and stupid. The thought of anyone doing that is what really freaked him out, not the fact that the plant ate blood. Anyway, thanks for reading.
Thanks everyone!